Amen, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, tonight as we come to your word, we thank you that you have already allowed us to sing your word back to you. But now, Heavenly Father, as we hear it read and preached. We ask, O Lord, as you have been gracious to us through this day, to send your spirit to give us understanding. We ask tonight, Father, that you would give us not only understanding, but the true breadth of the application from the Apostle Paul here, that we may truly be able to sing from the heart, that there is nothing that may separate us from the love of God in Christ. In his name we pray. Amen. Please take your copy of God's Word this evening if it is with you, if you have it with you, and turn with me to the last passage in our winter series, the winter of our assurance. Romans 8, verses 35 through 39. As always, I would encourage you to keep your Bibles open, for this is the Word of God. It is inerrant and infallible. Let us hear it with great reverence. It leads truth upon our hearts as we seek to practice them in our lives with exceeding great joy. Who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, persecution, or famine, or sword, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. You may be seated. Tonight we come to the end of our study through Romans chapter 8, but you'll notice that we do so by continuing with the series of questions that we began with last week that particularly began with the interrogative who. And we noted that it is the accuser, Satan, of whom this speaks. And we noticed that in spite of the condemnation that he often brings, and despite the slander that he often will bring. Nevertheless, that we have assurance that if God is for us, that he himself cannot be against us. But with all that we have heard of the assurances from the word of God, the question that we need to be answering for ourselves as we begin this evening is, how do we know that these assurances are really going to stand up? Well, notice that's why the Apostle Paul answers our question tonight with a question by asking us, who shall separate us from the love of God in Christ? And again, I want us to see it here because the love of Christ of which we speak here is not our love for Jesus. Yes, it may be great, but how much more his love for us? This is what our pastor is speaking to. And that should be a great encouragement to us, because even though when ours may be great, there are times when it tends to wane and grow cold, but His always continues strong, perfect, and faithful on our behalf. It is unchanging, always, never failing. And that's something that we took note of last week as we consider the end of verse 34. And we're told that Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. And I want you to note that because not only do we note that in His love, our Lord Jesus Christ continues to be the permanent and present reminder before the Father that our sins are forgiven, but Christ in His love is the one who continues to pray for us. What a great value we have or should place upon that truth. Because what we see here is that he is the one who personally ensures, as he is the one who personally ensures us that there is therefore now no condemnation, that so he is the one who also guarantees us that therefore there will be no separation. And I want you to see that because tonight as we have arrived at the summit of what we have on a few occasions mentioned us going up this mountain of assurance that Paul has laid out for us. Yes, as we arrive, we are to consider the beauty of what is before us at the place where we are. But I don't want us to miss tonight the consistency of this message. What I mean by that is that every step that we have taken between verse 1 and verse 39 has been grounded in the love of Christ and all that He has done for our salvation. Because it is all of Christ and nothing of ourselves, this is something that we can know for sure. Meaning that, as we have talked about regularly through this, that we can be assured of the grace of God to us and our salvation. But to help us clearly understand this this evening, Paul shows us two final things as we finish our ascent up this mountain of assurance. And the first of those is what we'll call the futility of the opposition. And again, the who here refers to Satan himself, but I say that because I don't want us to neglect to consider the impact that he has upon the world and the flesh. We've mentioned this triad that we regularly see within the Westminster Confession of Faith. Yes, we know that Satan is the one who comes to us. And as we mentioned last time, a couple of weeks ago, he's the one who will whisper in our ears, almost making it think that is our own mind that is thinking these things that would be slanderous towards our God. But let us understand that the same is also true as he stirs up the world and our own flesh. And as we can be sure that in doing so, that the world, the flesh, and the devil will do their worst, and that the Christian at times, yes, will surely experience the sting of these effects, Paul reminds us that it will never be as he has intended for it to be. that we'll find here is that Satan's actions, that as he would desire, as he does, as we hear in John 10, to steal and to kill and destroy. Notice that what he puts his hand to do never has the full force of what he would desire to do. And that's why in verse 35, Paul, in helping us to understand that, lays out seven things that we find here a complete and full number that Paul often uses, and we find from the Hebrew writings that these things speak of some kind of perfection. But notice that what we're finding here, that what Paul's laying out is meant to show us that this is everything that the believer will experience at the hands of the world, the flesh, and the devil. And the first thing is the companions of tribulation and distress. Now, mind you, I list these together because, one, tribulation is something that is outward. Distress is something that is a tension on the inside. In fact, the idea in the Greek behind distress is that it is something that is a result of being squeezed into a very narrow place by forces outside of our controls that begins to lead us to anxiety and anguish because we don't know how to respond. someone who is concerned about being shoved into a tight space and is claustrophobic, you may understand exactly this distress that they're speaking of here. But notice that paired with tribulation, that it can also be something that flows out of persecution. Notice the result that what the people of God will experience as others actively seek to oppress us, Not only through violence, but just as we have seen in other ways, through manipulation, through innuendo, making us appear, make it seem as if we are going to be in more trouble than we are. But notice that's also what we find with famine and nakedness. The reason why I pair these together is because here we see a lack of things that we physically need to sustain us. But in addition to that, we also were told of danger, the imminent peril of our present circumstances, and we also see that there is the sword. What we usually tend to think of in regards to the Apostle Paul is the authority that God has given to the state or that is taken up by some means of an alternative form of government to seek to execute what they believe is justice. Granted, most of these are not things that we ourselves really think that we deal with on a daily basis. And because we don't experience them, that's the reason why we don't call them common. But let us remember that these things are, in a sense, to Paul. And I want you to hear that, because one of the passages that I like to go to from time to time, just to maybe get a little bit of perspective, is 2 Corinthians 11, 23 through 27. If you're there, we'll go there for a minute. But notice that Paul tells us here, Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one. I'm talking like a madman. With far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. It goes on the catalog, these things. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the 40 lashes, less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, in dangers from robbers, danger from Mayan people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food and cold, and exposure. And I read these things because here Paul is putting these things before us so that we'll begin to consider them from his point of view, from a more personal perspective. And that's so that we will understand that these are things that, yes, believers even in our own day do face on a regular basis, and they are things that they fear. But note that it's so that we ourselves will begin to consider that the opposition that is being spoken of here is really more common than we think. In fact, not only would you find in Matthew chapter five where Jesus says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, not just anything that you would do, but rather because of your testimony for Christ and actions that seek to serve him. But Jesus goes on by telling us, Blessed when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account, rejoice and be glad. For they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Dear friends, I want you to hear that because in a sense that's what we, Note, yes, in Paul's day, in Jesus's day, but Jesus makes the application back to the Old Testament. And I think that that is one of the reasons why, in verse 36, We hear Paul say, as it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. We remember Psalm 44, we just sang it a few minutes ago, but it is written by the sons of Korah, one group of those men, the Levites that we saw back in the third book of the Psalter. as they are writing these things for the worship of the people of God, even in their times of lamentation, that one of the things that they highlight throughout this is that a pursuit of godliness for the Old Testament believer at times would seem to be almost an act of futility. That's what they're saying here. It seems like it's all slaughter all the day. In a sense, they have them asking, well, what's the point Pardon me. What's the point if the only thing we ever experienced is defeat? Why should we continue on with this? How is it that we're going to grow? We've already mentioned in the past that there, that peace is a time where we tend to see not only civilizations, but people individually growing and becoming more fruitful. And I want you to see that because from the perspective of what we see in Psalm 44 and this statement that Paul gives to us, yes, it can be discouraging, but as we are looking this, particularly if we are in the midst of some degree of persecution, it can be good to remember that the Christian life is not made up of all warm feelings and a good time. And I think that's important. Because note that this is when believers tend to question the love of Christ, particularly as they are struggling with what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 7, fighting within and fears without. In fact, that's one of the reasons why the passage that we read a moment ago from 2 Corinthians is one that I usually read off to men who are coming to me and speaking or talking about, well, I'd really like to go into vocational ministry. not because they're going to be beaten. There might be an application of that somewhere in some churches. But the fact is, is dangers and other things. But the point of that is what you find in verse 28. Notice that Paul's listed all these physical things that no one would ever want to go through. And then he, in a sense, highlights this last verse by saying, and apart from all these other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. You're a pastor, you don't just work with your church. We're a connectional denomination. You stick your nose into everybody else's stuff too, and sometimes they come and get you and stick your nose in it. But the fact of the matter is, is it shows us that this is going to be something that might be a little more rigorous than just Hey, I'll work for a few hours on one day, come up with a sermon, and then I'll go out and preach, and everybody will be happy. I'll have nice times of going to lunch and that sort of thing. But it shows us that there is a difficult work going on here. That's one of the reasons this evening that we sang, A Mighty Fortress is Our God. It's because, yes, we know, as this hymn was written in 1529, that the Roman Catholics were after Martin Luther. that if they found him, they were going to burn him at the stake as a heretic. But I want you to understand that it's not just the Roman Catholics over here that we also see coming on the other side, is Islam is encroaching very heavily upon Europe at the exact same time. Here we see that there are multiple things going on. But interestingly enough, when I was writing this in 2020 during COVID, We also are reminded that in Wittenberg that the plague was going on at that point in time, and that there's many people who were dying in the church. There were many people who were friends of Martin Luther who were passing away and experiencing a terrible death. But I want you to note, brothers and sisters, at times where we look to these things and we see all of these different heavy elements coming around here, that we can see and understand what Paul is talking about, because in a sense, this is where we are. That we are affected inside by what is happening to us and around us on the outside. And even if we're not experiencing every single jot and tittle that Paul has, Notice that what Martin Luther wants us to remember is that the source of these things are the world, the flesh, and the devil. And that's why he says, even though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for Him. His rage we can endure, for lo, His doom is sure. One little word shall fell Him, and Christ is that word above all earthly powers. that He is the one that we have who is able to conquer and overcome these things. And that's why, as we hear in verse 35 again, that Paul says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall distress, or tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword, that at times when we're inclined to respond, well, Perhaps, or maybe, in some cases, yes, because we are those who, in a sense, feel like, verse 36, for your sake, we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Notice that the answer that Paul gives to us in verse 17 at the beginning is a resounding no. Granted, this might not be what we expected, but let us understand that this is an absolutely amazing truth because not only is what he is telling us here is that can our enemies really do nothing to produce even the slightest crack in the love of Christ for those whom he has died for and purchased But we note that Christ actively uses the enemies and their efforts to work out His own will. Mentioned in the past that God uses sin sinlessly. Let us understand that the enemies of Christ are made to be His helper. And that's what we find at the heart of verse 37, that in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. And yes, that does speak to us of the assurance of glory, because we are predestined to that end, and we will persevere in the love of Christ, His for us, not ours for Him. But I want you to note that God is using every opposition that we fear to make us those who, in a sense, are conquering even now. That's why we see the constant refrain, brothers and sisters, in Revelation, chapters two and three. In fact, in chapter three, verse five, it says, to the one who conquers, to the one who conquers. In this particular verse, he says, you will be clothed with white garments, and I will never blot your name out of the book of life. And what Paul was telling us is that opposing the believer is futile, because as we hear in verse 17, or 37, that the one that they are actually opposing is the one who loves us and controls all things. And I want you to hear that all things, because it is terribly important, because first and foremost, it's not some things. In fact, the reason why we find that all things here is because it's meant to echo what we hear or what we have already heard in verse 28 of Romans 8. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. In fact, I think that we can say honestly that we would never understand verse 37 if we did not understand how closely it is tied to verse 28. that God controls all that pertains to eternal salvation and even the very lives of the people that He is going to save, what can take that away from Him? And I want you to see that as the world will boast and as it can do actual real harm, What Paul is very boldly, but I think rightly within the context, that Christ is telling us that ultimately everything the world, the flesh, and the devil can do to us is vain. In fact, earlier I mentioned the Reformation hope for Haiti ministry, and what made me think of that is That again, it was about four years ago when I was writing this sermon that I was writing, I had been watching, the day before I had been watching the funeral, the gentleman who had started the organization. Wonderful man. He had started an orphanage there, churches, presbytery. He had organized all these things. An incredible man who was murdered in the front seat of his car while he was sitting at a stoplight. But I want you to see that while this seems to be such a shame and such a waste, and it is certainly sad, what we can say of Jean-Paul is that he conquered. And the reason why I say that, brothers and sisters, is because that's what we find Paul telling us. And so I ask you this evening, do we understand that the church will not fail and that Christ will never stop loving his bride with a great and eternal love And that it will not be anyone in Christ who is ever separated from Him. And the reason for that is, is because we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. And again, that conquering is not something that is in and of ourselves. Note that it is through Him who loved us. In the power of the Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead, we overcome. Even if we are being slaughtered like sheep, day in, day out, our great shepherd of the sheep sits upon the throne and he prays for us. And we know that his prayers are effectual, because he is the one who has offered his blood to fulfill the new covenant and been raised for our justification. And I want you to know that, because in times when we are suffering, It is hard to remember the measure of love that Christ indeed has for us. The love that has proven faithful again and again, even when he suffered himself the unthinkable as he sacrificed himself for us and our sin. Not only will his love never fail, but it will confirm to us that all is for good as we are drawn into a closer communion with him and identify with him in our own suffering and our own difficulty. And that's why the enemy is actually allowed to bring suffering to the believer. We heard in verse 29, to conform us in this life to the likeness of his son. And I ask you, isn't that the reason why in Acts 14, which we read a few weeks ago, that Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch so that they may strengthen the souls of the disciple and encourage them to continue in the faith because it is through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God? As Christ the Lamb was slain and has conquered death, so through him we are told that we will too. And isn't that the example that we see of believers in the Old Testament? As they are waiting for a Christ that they have never known all the details of. They did not know the person and the work of Christ. They had shadows and figures and types from here to there. But let us understand that what they are pleading At the end of Psalm 44 is, why do you hide your face from us? Why do you forget us in our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust, our belly clings to the ground. Rise up, come to our help, redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. The only Hebrew word I ever tried to teach you, and I will try to teach you for the rest of your lives, is the word chesed, which basically is the word steadfast love, which means a covenant love that God has for his people. A love that is greater than a parent has for their child because this is God for his children. This is a love unending because the love of God itself cannot be broken. And that means that in tribulation, in danger, and in distress, this is where our thoughts to go. To the fact that in all things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. And I want you to hear that, brothers and sisters. We need to be asking ourselves that question. Is this where our thoughts go? Is this what we consider of ourselves, even in times where it seems that, according to Tolkien, we are fighting the long defeat? Brothers and sisters, I want you to note that, because through Christ, we will see opposition and oppression. And we might even endure some for a time, but it is ultimately nothing but futility. I want you to note that because it's with this that Paul finally shows the believer our assurance in all things. In fact, the beginning of verse 38, Paul says that, I am sure, or I am certain. The tense that we find this in in the Greek basically shows us something that has happened at a point in time, almost like us driving down a very heavy tent peg or laying a foundation. And that from there you are able to build upon this. This is something that is able to grow. That the certainty that you have only gets bigger, only gets stronger. And I want you to note that because what Paul is telling the believers that we can have the same conviction always and in all things. And to help us think in accordance with the greatness of this assurance that we have in Christ, Paul plainly tells us. that we cannot be separated by several things. And again, this is somewhere where our minds ought to go. I would encourage you strongly to even memorize this 37 through 39, or actually, yeah, that too. But I think it's good for us to go back to this and consider that this is where we find assurance as we look back to what is. And the first that we find here is that we cannot be separated by death or life. The two great things that we consider in the life in which we live, yes, we may endure years and years of difficulty even, as Joseph said, that I have lived many years and they have been full of trouble. Dear friends, as we go through those things and begin to wonder and consume ourselves with finding out we've been cut off from the love of Christ, Paul is telling us here, a matter of factly, no, you cannot be. But let us also understand that the same is true with death. that if we fear death, brothers and sisters, we need to be those who also need to listen to the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 14, eight, when he says, if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. It's a very matter-of-fact statement that Paul tells us here, and he says that no matter what you may face in this life, the difficulty of it, or even the death that you may face, that both of these only fulfill God's purposes, the purposes of a loving God. But notice that the same is true with angels and rulers, these spiritual beings that Paul is talking of that we may not have ever seen, that we do know exist and do have a great deal of power. But let us understand that because our God is the one who has ordained every action of theirs, and they can't overcome the one who has made them, even Christ himself, then in a sense they are effectively powerless over us. They are still able to do things, but their power is not what it should be. But also, as there are things that we encounter in the present and in the future, these are situations where we often find unknown variables of things to come. particularly that they tend to perplex us and confuse us because we don't know exactly what's going to happen. One of the things I often say is we don't know what's going to take place on Thursday of this week. We may have a lot of things planned, but let's always pray that when I say that nothing happens on Thursday. But nevertheless, I want us to see that as these things may greatly raise our blood pressure levels, notice they have no effect on the Lord's ability to keep His own. nor do heights nor depths. Everything that takes place in heaven and on earth, and even the grave, cannot sever us from the love of Christ. In fact, Paul goes so far at the end of this to tell us, nor will anything in all creation. I absolutely love this because notice that Paul really is giving us just a wide breadth of everything that we think could do anything to us. Here he's talking about all of creation. All of creation, the universe itself, is created by God. And as we look to it and think that this is all there is, at times, pardon me, we might have the hypothetical state of thought go through our minds to think, well, if all of the universe that is created by God were to break away from His control and turn against me individually, which sometimes we may have the impression that that's what's actually taking place, Paul tells us that if that were to take place, then we can still be perfectly assured that we are more than conquerors through him who loves us, because he has promised us that nothing will separate us from the love of God in Christ. Now granted, there's a bit of exaggeration here in the universe illustration, but understand that we are not to fear that which we have already seen in verse 21, groans for our adoption as sons and the redemption of our bodies, but particularly because it can never go against the God who has created it. But I want you to note that he says it in this way because the universe is not generally our biggest concern. Paul tells us the great impossible things so that we will not be thrown for a loop when we are faced with the smaller and usual things that tend to throw us for a loop. And when I speak of smaller things, understand not to do any disrespect, but we're not separated by cancer. We're not separated from God by Alzheimer's. We're not separated from Christ by the death of a loved one, or a rebellious child, or a divorce, or even a prolonged illness, or a debilitated state. I want you to know that because even when our dreams and ambitions that we have so clung to begin to fall apart as a result of our own sin, The love of Christ for His own people does not change. And why is that? Because very simply, as Paul tells us in very simple words in this passage, it's because of the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. What we see as we stand at the pinnacle of the mountain of assurance that Paul has laid out for us over the past three months, we find here that salvation is of our Triune God. Meaning that the infinite, eternal, and unchangeable love of the Father that predestined us before the foundation of the world and the regenerating love of the Spirit of God, who has called us into a relationship with our God and united us to Christ by faith, yes, at times it will fluctuate. Our love is going to fluctuate. But let us understand that it will never fail because it rests in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I want you to think about that for a minute, because whenever you hear Christ Jesus Lord, this becomes a very dense and loaded statement. It speaks to us of everything of who Jesus is. And the reason why I mention that is because on the one hand, we are told here that in Christ, the love of God is manifest. Every time we have seen in this passage today the love mentioned, it is always in the past tense. Not that he has once loved us, and now he may not, but now what he's telling us is that we need to be looking back to the fixed point where we see the love of Christ on the cross. And note that even when the righteousness of Christ accomplished righteousness for us by dying the death, that we could not ourselves die to satisfy our sins, and that He put to death, death itself. Let us understand that because of this, we cannot be separated from God. But on the other hand, I'd also like for us to note that in Christ, the love of God remains with us. Not just the sovereign Lord who sits upon the throne, who overrules all things for our good, but notice as we find here, and I want you to pay attention to the particulars of this, it is our Lord who overrules all things for His own glory and our eternal good. That the hope, the assurance that we find here is that it's not just a Lord or that Lord, but it is ours. Personal pronouns give us a great assurance, and we are to take hold of that. And I think that's important because, brothers and sisters, every bit of assurance that we have seen in this chapter is only for the believer. But those who cling to the gospel of Christ by faith and trust in His sovereign grace alone to save, tonight I ask you, are you in Christ? Do you believe that you are a sinner and that Christ has died for sinners? But in that, do you trust that Christ is able and willing in the love that he has manifest for millions to seal you in this promise of new life, to grant to you assurance and hope in his work and not your own? But for we who do believe, are you seeking to ground yourself in this assurance, meaning that as we understand Romans 8 as a repository of assurance, will we avail ourselves of it again and again as we desire to grow in confidence to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil when the assault is great upon us? And will this be what leads us boldly before that throne of grace because we are assured that the one who sits upon that throne loves us and welcomes us to always come and to give from ourselves everything that we are so that he may answer and do what is pleasing to our God. And so tonight, as we close Romans 8, I want to give our last word that we have in this study to our Lord Jesus Christ himself from Luke 12.32, where when his disciples, as it is already right after the triumphal entry that he speaks to his disciples, fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And I ask us tonight, is this our assurance? And is it one that we know will persevere because our God has not just promised to give us salvation in this life, he's promised to give us all things. And I want you to hear that because the grace that he has promised to give to us to bring us safely to where he is that He also continues to fulfill His promises to bring us to where He will always be. I pray tonight that we will be a people who are looking to the promises of God and to the love of our God that has been solidly secured to our benefit and for our lives forever in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's go to Him now in prayer. Our Father in heaven, the astounding nature of your salvation, O Lord, we pray that it will be something that will shake us to the core and help us to realize, O Lord, that what we often doubt, what we often wonder over, O Lord, is far greater and immovable. Oh Lord, we ask tonight that you will strengthen us in the understanding of your love for us. Lord, not seeing love as merely the only attribute of our God, but certainly one that clings to us at times where we do not cling to you. Help us, Heavenly Father. We thank you that there is nothing that shall separate us from you. And we give you praise tonight, for you are the God who has saved us and will keep us for yourself, for your own glorious purposes. In Christ Jesus we pray. Amen.